The invention concerns a process chamber for the treatment of a substrate, in particular for the coating of a substrate by a PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition) method, comprising a recipient, treatment tools for generating the reaction conditions for the treatment of the substrate, at least one movable carrier in the recipient, said carrier for carrying at least one substrate, a transport device for transporting the carrier into the recipient or from the recipient along a transport route defined by the movement, wherein the transport device has at least one guidance device for guiding at least one carrier along the transport route. Furthermore, the invention concerns an inline coating installation, in particular an inline PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition) coating installation, as well as a method for the treatment of a substrate arranged at a carrier, in particular a method for coating by a PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition) method.
Various methods for the coating of substrates are known. One of these methods, which is used for example, for the production of photoelectric cells, is the PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) method. The different layers in the context of PECVD coating are usually applied in cluster installations.
In the case of cluster PECVD installations, especially the transport and the contacting between the substrate carriers and the electrodes or electrode connections provided in the coating chamber have proved problematic and limiting for throughput. A frequent cause of poor contacting is the thermal expansion of the substrate carriers due to high process temperatures.
This led to a relatively complex structure for the reaction chambers, high maintenance costs and a lowering of the throughput due to complex transport and contacting measures. In addition, errors during contacting can lead to inadequate coating results and installation outages.